


The Magic of You

by glitterator



Category: NCT (Band), SuperM (Korea Band), WAYV
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Magic, School, Strangers to Lovers, Sweet, Witches, Wizards
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:15:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26089996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitterator/pseuds/glitterator
Summary: Magic school Taeten.Ten and Taeyong are forced to help each other with school and grow closer as they learn more about themselves along the way.
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 28
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know. I have like 3 other WIP and I'm putting out another one....I know.....but 😭 I just keep thinking about taeten and having ideas so here so here we are. I promise I will finish all of them. I hope you enjoy anyways 👀

“Into the sky, thou shall fly,” Taeyong holds his origami crane up to the beating sun and sighs in defeat as the clouds overhead smile at his failure. “Okay, that didn’t work...again.” 

A rough tongue licks his hand and scares him out on the confines of his own spiraling thoughts, making him screech.

“Oh my god. It’s just a cat... oh.my god,” Taeyong breathes out in haste. “What are you doing up here on the roof??”

“Psst, Louis….pssssssst, loouuiiissss…” small words float in the air barely heavier than the wind. 

Taeyong looks above to a peculiar set of eyes staring down at him and the invasive cat. 

‘Another cat?’ he thinks as the feline eyes pierce him.

There’s pause stretched out far and wide between them, “Don’t touch him. You’ll get bitten. He doesn’t like anyone. He’s ferocious,” the boy finally warns.

The cat in question, Louis, purrs and stretches out his spine to glide across Taeyong’s leg and lay in his lap. Taeyong looks up to the boy overhead and points, “This cat? This one right here?”

The boy clicks his tongue and steps down from his perch lazily, “Louis come on.”

“Ah! Thai!” Taeyong points a bony finger to the boy.

“Ten,” Ten’s cold voice shows its fangs more than Louis ever did.

“Right. You always sit in the back so I forgot. Sorry,” Taeyong’s smile beams as bright and golden as his blonde hair.

“Doesn’t matter anyway,” Ten kicks open the door from the roof and slinks back into the building. Taeyong gathers his lilac notebook and panda pen and follows suit.

“Is Louis your familiar? He’s cute,” Taeyong inquires as they make their way back to the main room. No one’s ever worn their disinterest so blatantly before and it leads him into pointless conversation. 

Ten snaps his fingers and Louis disappears in a mirage of pink smoke that curls around his slender finger and into a pink sapphire nestled in gold.

“It’s none of your concern,” he walks out in front of Taeyong to leave his side.

Brooms line the walls like dominos, one after another ready to take each other down should they fall. Kids in an array of ages yell silly curses and spells, wands go flying like makeshift darts, and fire spreads down the staircase but the glamor falls flat like an off-tune piano.

“Silence!” The headmistress yells, her heels click against the wooden floors reverberating with authority. 

The main hall stands grand and lavish. A crystal chandelier overhead refracts sunlight pouring in and tosses out an occasional rainbow. Rumor has it if you can pluck one from the air and swallow it whole you’ll be granted a wish and beautiful dreams.

A large staircase forks in two and winds down like serpent tails of mahogany. The air is crisp and clean as the dandelions outside filter out any harmful spells or charms letting only good intentions pass. Curtains gather and fall, tongues of silk adorning window panes accented in gold. 

“We shall go over the results of the last exam set.” She scans the room and abruptly stops upon the feline eyes. Ten swallows a groan as his spine stiffens under her gaze. “Ten. My dear, you never come to these. Please come to the front so you don’t slip out the back when I’m not looking.”

“Yes Headmistress Seulgi,” Ten careens over a wooden banister and manages his way to the front, close enough to sneeze from her floral perfume.

“You too Taeyong, right next to Ten,” Seulgi commands. 

Taeyong follows the path laid out by his predecessor and sits beside him, hand covering his face so hopefully, no one can make out his blush of embarrassment. 

“Now! The transformation exam. Highest marks go to Xiao Jun for his dragon,” thunderous clapping rattles the walls as the white-haired boy bows. “Lowest marks go to Jungwoo,” she looks for him in the crowd and pulls his gaze. “It wasn’t necessarily bad but you turned into a mouse when Xuxi had just transformed into a lion. It created a big mess. Glamour and charms. Highest marks go to Johnny,” Johnny raises his hands and shimmies a bit for the cheering crowd. “Silence! Have a seat Johnny. Lowest marks go to Yuta. All Mark did was hiccup and you broke your glamour.” Seulgi’s eyes roll at the love-stricken boy who, even now, keeps eyes on his boyfriend. 

“Now for the major exams. Potions. Highest marks go to Taeyong.” Cheers fill the room as Taeyong tries to get the chair to swallow him up. “Lowest marks go to Ten. Spells and wards. Highest marks go to Ten,” the hall claps but it’s noticeably quieter. “Lowest marks go to Taeyong. The two of you come to my office when we’re done here.” 

Static plays in Ten’s ears as he tunes out the rest of the headmistress's speech. ‘Last again,’ he thinks. 

“The two of you,” the headmistress taps a jade nail on her intricately carved wooden desk. “Are a peculiar case. I think you’d be perfectly apt to help each other. What one of you lacks the other excels at and vice versa.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary, headmistress. I will do better next time,” Ten says, being burdened with someone else would just cause distraction. 

“What do you lack when it comes to potions?” Seulgi asks pointedly.

Ten has an idea, a small idea curled up in the back of his mind he dares not wake, “I don’t know.” 

“I think Taeyong can help you and quite frankly you need it. If this continues your scholarship will have to go up for review,” Ten’s body goes rigid and Seulgi’s eyes flick up at the scene. “What do you have to lose?” She asks with a sickeningly sweet marshmallow tone. 

Seulgi always makes Ten uncomfortable. It’s as if her every word is a glamour but he also knows he’d rather learn nowhere else. 

His parents incessantly protested him coming to Korea for his studies, especially when he’d been accepted into a prestigious magic school in Thailand. His scholarship ended up as the deciding factor and losing it is not an option. 

“And Taeyong. How would your father feel to know you can’t cast a simple spell correctly?” Seulgi quirks her brow up.

“Hey I’m fine with this. He’s the one who doesn’t want to,” Taeyong’s hands rise in defeat, his robes tosselling down his arms. 

Ten looks him over. Even over the folds of his deep inky black robe, Ten can see his frame is broad but thin. ‘Light as a feather,’ Ten thinks. His doe eyes make one think he could see the future in the vast galaxy of his irises. ‘How can someone enchanting not be able to cast an enchantment?’ Ridiculous. Though without doubt potions must run through his veins because no one can compare, nor do they desire to. 

Ten tosses his head back in frustration. “Fine,” he concedes, knowing this setup is not a choice but rather a command, though he appreciates the illusion Seulgi tries to maintain. 

“Good,” she smiles. “Take care of each other well.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You seem to need a little nudge in the right direction"
> 
> I wouldn't call this a slow burn but like we gotta build the foundation for the taeten relationship ya know :D

Johnny’s lunch tray clacks down harder than he intended it to. “Hungry?” Taeil asks, motioning to the three huge apples weighing it down.

“Lily won’t eat anything but apples,” Johnny rolls his eyes. “I thought having a horse as a familiar would be cool but she’s just hard headed.”

Taeil sets a gecko down beside him, “Cherry eats anything...literally anything. I once found him slurping my shoelace like a spaghetti noodle.”

“How’s Nara?” Jungwoo asks Taeyong, who winces at the name. “She’s okay. I think. She still won’t come out. My father was always a bit scared of her so he was really strict but I barely see her. I just wish I could show her we aren’t the same. For now that means waiting patiently.”

Taeyong tilts his head as a small memory tumbles around. He’s seven and so curious that the desire to peek in his father’s study outweighs his concern for getting in trouble. The door opens with a soft click and he hears tiny feet scurry around a metal base. Taeyong moves a velvet curtain and sees Nara muzzled and caged, curling in on herself in fear. At such a tender age he never knew his heart could hurt so much for something else. The memory is cut abruptly by a slap from his mother, who had pulled him away, overlapping with his friends calling his name. 

“What were you saying?” Taeyong shakes the memory away. 

“How’s it going with Thai?” Jaehyun repeats.

“His name is Ten and it’s not going great. We studied together once and he didn’t say anything the whole time then left after exactly an hour. I’d like to learn from him since he’s so good with spells but he doesn’t want to talk so I don’t know where to go from here.”

“We had practice exams yesterday how do you think it went?” Doyoung takes a bite of sandwich.

“THAT didn’t go well either. I tried to move a bottle across the table but nothing happened….at all. That’s a children’s spell.” Taeyong groans and looks around the dining hall not seeing Ten anywhere. “I’ve gone to tutoring with the professor and hired my own but I’m still not getting it for some reason. I don’t know if Ten has anything to offer but I’ll try anything at this point. Where is he? We’re supposed to eat lunch in the dining hall.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him here before but I also haven’t ever looked for him. I mean, he’s always alone. Does he even have any friends he would eat with?” Johnny carefully places his apples aside for his familiar. 

Taeyong is hard pressed to think of anyone. In fact, their interaction on the roof was the first time he’d seen the boy face to face or outside of class at all. Someone could tell him Ten was a figment of his imagination and he might be inclined to believe them. 

“Don’t,” Jaehyun points a bread stick at Taeyong. “You have that look. That ‘I’m gonna fix it look’.”

“No I don’t,” Taeyong protests but also wonders if Jaehyun can read minds.

“Just leave him be. Study with him if you can but then stay away from him. I’m sure he’s alone for a reason,” Jaehyun doesn’t know anything about Ten but there are plenty of rumors that make him more apprehensive than curious.

_‘Did you hear? Thai got kicked out of school back home for performing dark magic. Really?! I heard it was because he slept with the spells teacher. How gross. No no, everyone hush, his family is blacklisted there for selling stolen artifacts and amulets. They got caught and fled to Korea. I heard they were killed by people they stole from.’ ___

__Rumors swirl round and round among the college aged kids, perhaps more than their younger high school counterparts. People take it upon themselves to fill in the gaps of their knowledge by weaving tales and stacking up lies like bricks building up their own ‘truth’._ _

__

__Taeyong breathes in deep as he stands in front of the headmistress’s door and turns briskly to a small “dammit” that floats down the hall._ _

__Ten comes up from behind him and sighs, “This can’t be good if we’re both here.”_ _

__The door creaks open by itself and a cool water like voice beckons them inside, “Come in. I reviewed your practice exams and I have to say I’m impressed.”_ _ __The confused, blank look on Taeyong’s face conceals nothing, “Really?”_ _

__“I am! It’s impressive how poorly you can do. In fact I’d go as far as to say you did even worse on these than you did on the last exam set,” Seulgi tosses the papers on her desk and flicks her eyes up as they glow a golden hue._ _

__“What happened? Tell me the truth,” She peers at Taeyong who can feel his spine tighten up and his stomach twist as the words are pulled out of his mouth with force, “I want to study together but he doesn’t want to talk to me so nothing ends up happening but again I really want to and it kind of hurts my feelings that he seems so against it but there’s nothing I can do because I can't exactly make him do it and furthermore...”_ _

__“Enough,” she cuts him off as he tries to regain his breath and pull himself together from her unwelcome intrusion._ _

__“Ten.” Ten winces at the sharp sound of his name on her lips. “Maybe you didn’t hear me when I said to help each other, or perhaps I was too nice and you thought it was an option. It doesn’t matter either way. You seem to need a little nudge in the right direction, so I’ll tell you what…”_ _

__Whispers blur past the boy’s ears and wrap around the headmistress. Her glossy black hair stands on end and floats on the air as her eyes take on a golden color once again and the room shakes._ _

__“There,” the room settles with her polite smile, “Ten, you’ll find your belongings in Taeyong’s room. Taeyong, you’ll be sharing a room with Ten now and Johnny will take Ten’s place.”_ _

__“What!?” Ten looks alarmed._ _

__“Maybe now you’ll do as I say,” Seulgi shoos them away with her hand. “Get out of my sight.”_ _

__

__Ten looks nervous as they enter their room. His things are in fact positioned just as they had been in his old one but he makes his way straight to the closet, needing reassurance. “Please be here, please be here. Where is it...oh thank god.”_ _

__Taeyong peers over his shoulder and sees him clutching an old wooden box but decides against prying._ _

__“I’m taking a shower and going to sleep,” Ten nestles the box in a safe spot and gathers his things._ _

__“Already? It’s only 7pm and we haven’t had dinner yet,” Taeyong hears a slight grumble of someone’s stomach but can’t tell if it’s his own or his new roommate._ _

__“So? I’m tired and I’ve lost my appetite,” Ten disappears into the bathroom leaving Taeyong to digest what just happened alone._ _

__

__“Not gonna lie I thought I’d been expelled when my shit disappeared,” Johnny places four apples to the side._ _

__“It’s not like you were ever in our room so it’s not a big deal right?” Taeyong looks around for Ten but gives up after a few minutes._ _

__“That’s because he spends every night in my room,” Taeil gets up and kisses Johnny lightly on the lips making the whole table groan in unison._ _

__Taeyong rolls his eyes. He had to beg his parents against getting him a private room only to be placed with Johnny who was never there and now Ten who seemed hell bent on disliking him._ _

__Growing up, the estate felt empty making him yearn for someone to share everything with. He always wanted a roommate he could confide in and fall asleep talking to but now that he had a chance, his precious dorm life felt unbearably elusive and slightly...lonely, even at a time like this surrounded by friends._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next ch is done so i'll post it soon :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saltwater and actual talking.

Days pass and the boys speak as little as possible. 

Uncomfortable stillness plagues the room and Taeyong wants nothing more than to break it, though he’s at a loss for how.

They silently pass one another, moving in and out of each other's orbit like magnets turned around. If anything Taeyong thinks this has made the situation worse. The only difference is now he notices everything. 

Ten bites his pen cap when he’s bored in class and sticks his tongue out when he’s thinking. His nose scrunches when he’s annoyed and his eyes water easily when he’s watching a sad movie. 

He can’t seem to stop himself from watching Ten. His every movement sends a ripple through the room that pulls his gaze and locks him in. Something about the boy makes him hungry- for friendship, attention, conversation, a look...anything he can get from Ten he’ll happily take but he’s left starving day after day.

While Johnny was never around, Ten doesn’t leave the room much. He spends most of his time sleeping, studying or watching movies but every now and then he disappears for hours late in the evening and comes back with a peculiar scent that lingers on the air, like tonight.

Taeyong hums as he tries to place the smell that seems both loud and quiet in his mind as if screaming that he knows what it is but at the same time doesn’t. It’s an enchanting smell that carries with it a myriad of sensations and images of green, metallic, froth, murky, salty. It makes Taeyong want to ask ‘Where have you been? Can I come too? I wish to smell as if I were born of waves and oceans.’ 

‘Ah,’ Taeyong chimes as a thought clicks in place. ‘He smells of fresh cool saltwater.’

Ten steps into the bathroom for a shower leaving Taeyong to run back to the cat toy he’d hidden. His roommate may not be friendly or want anything to do with him but Louis is a different story. Taeyong finds solace in the plush Siamese cat that likes to play. He had scoured the pet section at the store looking for special prizes that might win him favor with his new kitten friend and emerged with some hits if Louis’s enthusiasm was anything to go by. 

“Hey,” Taeyong bounces a shiny mouse at the end of a baton. “How do I get him to talk to me? I won’t ask for as much as friends but just talk.” He holds his hand up to Louis as if he’s holding a microphone. “Please tell me, good sir.”

Louis meows on cue.

“You’re right. It’s hopeless,” Taeyong falls down on the bed and listens as the water stops. “Shhh, you’re gonna get me in trouble. Go back to his bed.”

Louis prances away and purrs as Ten comes out, wrapped in a fluffy robe, and scratches behind his ear. ‘I never said it was hopeless idiot,’ Louis thinks.

Some days are hard for Ten. The indoor pool at the school is a mystical place, and the only space he feels at ease. Turquoise tiles reflect a cerulean tinge above the water and calm his muddy mind. It looks like an ordinary pool from above but below the glassy border, a secret ocean world waits to be explored. 

A spell etched in the tiles transports him to the other end of the world and helps him breathe underwater allowing him to stay as long as he desires. He passes by schools of fish and plucks a starfish off a rock that curls in his hand. Shells and corals line jagged rocks and cliffs 20 feet deep. A cuttlefish waves a slinky tentacle making Ten smile as he dives down further and loses himself in the cool depth. Here, nothing bothers him. 

No one stares at him as he goes by and whispers behind his back, or bumps into him and keeps going as if he weren’t there at all. Here he can escape from everything above, even the stinging loneliness he’d rather drown that admit to, or the fact that he can’t see the one person he’d give his last breath for. He doesn’t have to think about the missing pieces of himself he’ll never get back or the fact that he has to live around the wounds left on his heart. 

A small thought creeps into his mind and asks him if he’d be better off swallowing seawater till everything subsides but it’s interrupted by a soft song that cuts through the water and lifts his head up, tugging at him from the surface. A mermaid? No, they’re on the wrong side. A sweet warm feeling ribbons around him as he’s drawn in closer to the blurry golden mirage at the edge of the pool. His hands instinctively raise up to touch the fallen sunlight but instead feel warm skin as he reaches out. 

His eyes sting with salty ocean that drips from his wet hair like diamonds and widen as he’s face to face with Taeyong. 

Taeyong’s skin gets goosebumps at the sensation of Ten’s cold fingertips on his cheek.

“Sorry, I thought….never mind. I’m sorry,” Ten removes his hand and looks up to Taeyong still locked on him. “Why are you here?” He asks, feeling the heavy weight of Taeyong’s gaze. 

“It’s later than usual so I was looking for you. After 10 we’re supposed to use the buddy system if we go out and I didn’t want you getting in trouble. I was sitting over there for a while but I got a bad feeling and wanted to check on you,” Taeyong reaches down, “Do you want to get out of there? I’ll help you.”

Ten hesitates and looks at the hand as if spikes would grow at any moment but eventually gives in and slips his into the other’s. He’s too tired to think. He’s been swimming so long against the tide of his thoughts and the ocean below that the warmth of another person is almost pleasant against his skin, though he knows better than to get used to such things.

The walk back to their room is quiet with questions written all over Taeyong’s face that he doesn’t ask. Ten has seen that look many times in the past few days only now the shadow of it is more prominent and harder to conceal than before.

Ten has noticed many things about Taeyong, like how he watches him. He can feel his eyes ghosting over his skin, drinking in every movement as if committing it to memory. Somehow he can’t help but feel it’s a trap and one wrong move will get him sucked into something he can’t get out of. But tonight, he reached out for the prickly vine himself. He let the venus fly trap close around his hand and pull him from the dark water into something burning and quizzical. 

It took only a simple gesture in a moment of weakness for Ten to fold and finally spare Taeyong the second thought he seemed so desperate for, “Do you want to study together?”

“He agreed??” Jungwoo shouts.

“Shhhhh! Yes. It was his idea,” Taeyong gathers his things from the table. “We’re gonna study now that I’m done eating. I was afraid he’d change his mind so I even made sure this morning.”

“You know he could have eaten with us and you guys could have gone right afterward,” Johnny puts five apples in his backpack. 

“I think that’s too big a step for him,” Taeyong admits. “I’m even surprised he offered this if I’m being honest. I’m not gonna push my luck.”

“Well if anything happens just come get one of us. If it’s too uncomfortable to share a room with him then you can just sleep with us and we’ll talk to the headmistress together and maybe she’ll listen,” Jaehyun worries for his friend who seems to be in nothing but bright spirits. 

“No need. I’m gonna win him over today and even if I don’t learn anything I’ll have made a friend,” Taeyong’s determination radiates through him.

“Okay okay. It’s not gonna happen if you’re late so go,” Doyoung points at his watch and sends Taeyong running down the hall. 

Taeyong wonders why he’s so excited to spend time with Ten. Is it the prospect of a new friend or the possibility of finally getting the help he needs with school? Or maybe...it’s something else he can’t quite place a finger on.

“I’m ready when you are,” Taeyong enters the room and halts immediately.

Ten sits on the floor as Nara eats out of his hand, “Sorry. She’s hungry and salmon is her favorite. Hope you don’t mind.”

Taeyong hasn’t seen Nara in days and even then it was just a glimpse as he left food out for her to eat and watched her paw drag the plate away. 

“How did you…” Taeyong takes a step closer but Nara quickly disappears into a rose necklace nearby.

Ten looks confused but brushes it off and gets his books, “Ready?”

The library is vast and seemingly endless. Taeyong watches Ten’s hands caress the spine of a leather-bound book. The pages smell of rain-soaked autumn leaves, or so Taeyong likes to think. 

Slivers of gold and silver wrapped around Ten’s fingers catch his watchful eye and the lights overhead. The pink sapphire Louis disappeared into sparkles a playful hello bringing a smile to his lips.

“Stop staring at Louis. He’s gonna want to play,” Ten’s eyes don’t peel away from the pages as he speaks. “You’re also gonna make the other one jealous.”

“Other one?” Taeyong brims with childlike curiosity.

“I have two familiars but Louis wants out more often,” Ten shows his rings and beside the first rests a second band, gleaming with navy stones as deep and rich as the arctic ocean. “His name is Leon.” 

“I’ve never seen anyone with two familiars before. I can barely handle mine. Hey, how did you get her to come out?” Taeyong rests his head on his hands. “She doesn’t come out for me.”

Ten quirks an eyebrow up, “I thought she looked scared but I wasn’t entirely sure. I don’t care whose son you are, if it looks like you’re mistreating her I’ll report you.”

“NO! No, I would never. But...she’s been handed down through generations and as a nine-tailed fox, she’s gotten more powerful as she’s aged and my father was a bit afraid of her so he didn’t treat her well,” Taeyong avoids eye contact knowing how it sounds.

“Are you scared of her?” Ten asks.

“No. If anything I’m scared that she doesn’t want me or the damage has been done and she can’t trust me,” the sadness and guilt in Taeyong’s tone are thick and heavy weighing down each word as his mind visibly wanders.

“You’re not gonna be able to study are you?” Ten sighs in defeat but smiles. “Should I help you?”

In the dorm, Ten pulls a futon out of the closet, “You never know when you need one.” He lays it out and sits on the floor, grabbing the rose necklace Nara resides in. “Come down here.”

Taeyong hits the ground with an enthusiastic thud making Ten’s eyes widen then crescent with a giggle, “You didn’t have to do it that hard. We’ll sleep on the floor with her. We want her to feel in control. Her main fox form is small and we don’t want her to feel overpowered or threatened. This way if she comes out she can retreat or watch us from a distance until she’s comfortable.”

“How do you know so much about this?” Taeyong touches the necklace delicately.

“My parents own veterinary hospitals for animals and familiars in Thailand. Nine-tailed foxes are rare but I’ve seen them before, she’s like any other familiar passed down in families. She wants to bond and trust her new owner, you just have to show her it’s safe. Familiars are a reflection of us so the more comfortable you are the more comfortable she’ll become,” Ten glides his fingers over the smooth bands running across his fingers.

“Does that mean you’re playful?” Taeyong motions to Louis’s ring.

Ten pouts but it melts as he locks eyes with Taeyong, “Thank you for treating him well. He told me I was being too hard on you and I guess I was. I just didn’t like the thought of being forced in here and you’re so smiley, it kind of weirded me out.”

Taeyong smiles brightly making Ten roll his eyes, “Like that. Go to sleep. Tomorrow we definitely have to study after dinner for whatever that’s worth.”

“That sounds good. I hope we can help each other but if we’re being honest I don’t know what my problem is. How about you?” Taeyong looks over to the boy beside him and sees something flicker in his eyes. Something fleeting and quick that comes and goes like a flash of thunder.

“I don’t trust anyone or anything,” he answers. “Not even magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do we like it so far??


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten and Taeyong try to pinpoint and address their problems.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helllloooooooo ~ ❤️

“Intention. Everything in magic comes down to that and nothing is more powerful than it as well,” Ten’s fingers trace the words on the page as he closes his eyes to focus.

“Like anyone, anyone? You don’t trust a single person?” Taeyong prys. 

Ten’s eyes shoot open and glare across the table, “Focus Taeyong.”

Taeyong moves closer, “And how can you not trust magic? Magic is beautiful and enchanting and full of endless possibilities.”

“Hu-sh. SPELLS. Try this one and let me watch. Maybe I can get an idea of what’s wrong if I see it,” Ten slides the book across the table and into Taeyong’s hands.

It’s heavier that he thought it would be and for some reason that adds to the anxiety making its way across his chest. “I don’t know why I’m nervous,” he chuckles and swallows dryly.

“There’s no need to be. I know it’s not gonna work just like if I made a potion right now it wouldn’t, that’s why we’re here,” Ten urges him to continue.

Taeyong grabs his wand and proceeds but the magic fails.

“Visualize it. See what you want to happen in your mind and push your will out into the world,” Ten puts his hands on a cup of water that turns to snow. “Try again,” he snaps his fingers and the cup is full of water again.

Taeyong fails five more times before leaning back in his chair with an exasperated sigh, “It’s not working. Can we focus on you now?? Please!”

Ten rolls his eyes and gets up, “Let’s go to the potions room.”

You either hate or love the potions lab. Colorful glass jars line the walls in all shapes and sizes. Some magic likes red but only work if snuggled in a round bottle, other potions only work if kept in vials made of sea glass and bathed in sunlight. The pickier potions require specialized tins of gold or hollowed out quartz. Ten dislikes it all. 

He looks around at the supplies all neatly arranged- calcified sea shells, dried cranberry leaves, bat organs, holy water, Egyptian sand, everything you could need for any potion the school has. This, is where Taeyong shines. 

“Here, your intention is important, always, but so is nature. The world is full of magic and you have to use that to your advantage, take it in and let it be what it will. It wants to be useful. It wants to combine with one another and make something more than itself so let it,” Taeyong breaks twigs, tears rose petals and crushes sprigs of lavender. He nestles in spools of black widow spider webs and a sprinkling of platinum dust then covers it with boiling chamomile tea. 

After ten minutes a thick salve coats the pot. 

“What did you make?” Ten inquires.

“A healing salve. You have a bruise on your shoulder. This is way better than what the nurses have. If you put this on tonight it’ll be gone by the morning. Here it’s not so much your will but what you ask of the world. Visualize what you want nature to help you achieve and trust that she will,” Taeyong scoops the thick substance into a golden tin and hands it to Ten. “That’s going to be your hurdle.”

“I can heal a bruise with a spell too. Practically anything you can do with a potion I can do with a spell and I don’t have to rely on nature to help me,” Ten takes the offering.

“Potions amplify your magic. It takes it and makes it spread and go further. I can use that on a hundred different people and they’ll heal where you would get worn out after five to ten. You can grow a flower with a spell but I can grow a grove or vineyard in a fraction of the time it’d take you. Spells excel in localized magic, but potions are capable of so much more,” Taeyong cleans the pot and steps aside. “You try.”

Ten bites the inside of his cheek and mimics all of Taeyong’s movements but after ten minutes the pot is just a bunch of twigs, petals and spider webs steeped in tea. Ten glares and shoots a side eye to Taeyong who rubs the back of his head, “Okay so that didn’t work. You did everything right. Did you at least try to open up a little?”

“Open up what?” Ten asks, poking the mush.

“I’m gonna take that as a no. Let's go back to our room for now. It’s late already, and STOP poking that,” Taeyong taps Ten’s hand making him drop a stirring rod he found. 

“So, we have a few problems,” Taeyong lays on the bed with his hands holding the crook of his neck. “How do we solve them? You need to open up more and I need to….?”

“Open up, you say that like it’s easy,” Ten sits at the edge of his own bed watching Taeyong. “I know my problem, just not what to do about it. You? You have some personal shit going on and I don’t know you well enough to help.”

Taeyong stares at the ceiling, “My birthday is July 1st, I love dried sweet potatoes and pretty much anything sweet, my favorite color is pink, blood type is O...what else…”

“Why are you telling me all of that?” Ten asks.

“I want to get to know each other better,” Taeyong sits up and leans forward. “Now you. Share something.”

Ten looks down as he thinks, “Come to the roof with me.”

“This late at night?” Taeyong gets up and follows his roommate already headed for the door.

“It has to be at night,” Ten leads him to the roof and Taeyong smiles.

“We met over there,” he says cheerfully.

Ten scoffs but Taeyong sees the smile ghosting his lips. He steps toward the edge of the building and leans over, looking at the sky.

“Ten be careful,” Taeyong reaches out for his hand and pulls him back a bit.

“What do you see when you look up?” Ten asks, hand still nestled in Taeyong’s.

“What do you mean? The sky,” Ten flashes Taeyong a look and squeezes his hand hard. “Ow ow ow okay okay. Stars, colorful nebulas, galaxy clusters, there are so many shooting stars it’s practically light out here. It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I see the sky but there’s nothing in it,” Ten lets go and sits down. “The enchanted forest on campus too, for me it’s just a forest. The magic in the earth and in the sky...I don’t see it. If I can't see the magic around me, how can I use it? How do I open up when I think it’ll fail me? I can rely on myself. Then I know that any shortcomings are my own fault but outside of me...I don’t trust it.”

Taeyong sits beside him quietly. He lets them stay in silence for a few minutes before nudging him with his shoulder, “That’s a lot of pressure to carry. You don’t have to take on everything by yourself. You can rely on the world- nature and people. How long did it take you to talk to me? And we even live together. What we’re doing and the way we are...it’s not working so why don’t we take a different approach?”

“How?” Taeyong never heard such a small voice come from the person next to him.

“For starters do you want to have lunch together with my friends and me?” Taeyong asks sincerely.

“How would that be helpful?” Ten clicks his tongue in annoyance.

“I want you to see that people are worth knowing. Let’s open you up a little. Does that sound okay?” Taeyong smiles.

Ten doesn’t look convinced, “And you? What are you doing differently?” 

“I still need to figure that one out. I’m not really sure,” Taeyong wonders aloud.

“I was thinking about it. Do you believe you can do it?” Ten asks.

The question stops Taeyong’s train of thought with a flood of self doubt he’d tried desperately to keep behind a dam in his mind. It was as though he’d been caught, red handed and forced to see himself for the first time. Insecurity crept over his skin and flushed it with a strange vulnerability that made his fingertips go cold and his face burn hot, “I- I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please talk to me 😭

**Author's Note:**

> What do we think???  
> Play with me in the comments, please 🌝  
> I like talking to you guys ♥️
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/glitterator/with_replies) if you want to talk or freak out about Taeyong and Ten with me


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